Football's nasty catch-22

Most of us are aware by now that playing football causes brain damage. Some experience mild symptoms of forgetfulness from time to time, but it’s much worse and far more terrifying and dangerous for others.

Researchers are still in their infancy when it comes to understanding the brain, but it is known that consistent trauma to the head, exactly the type of trauma seen in every football game, causes damage.

So what do you do when your child says he or she wants to play football?

Judging by the crowds over at City Wide Sports Park last weekend, you sign them up and cheer them on.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no finger wagging going on here. I played high school football back in the days when concussion protocol was the coach asking if you knew where you were and what the score was. Answer correctly and back in you went.

(As an aside, I have an eerie story about going to see The Exorcist hours after being concussed that would make your skin crawl).

Today, the helmets are much more protective, players are taught not to lead with their head, and everyone from coaches to doctors are better trained. Sports, including football, teach teamwork, resiliency, the importance of physical fitness, and it keeps kids off the street by giving them something they enjoy doing. If I didn’t have sports when I was a teen, living under the same roof as an alcoholic and violent stepfather, I might not have survived it all.

Still, when do the risks of football outweigh the rewards?

Playing a couple of seasons around the age of 10 or so can’t hurt, right? But what if they love the game? What if they want to play into high school, and then college, and maybe even professionally? By this time, it’s almost certain the brain has been permanently injured to one extent or another.

As the Chicago Tribune writer Steve Chapman put it: “There are good reasons Russian roulette has never become a mass spectator sport. Not many fans want to see people competing to see who can cheat death and who will inflict lethal harm on his brain.”

He cites a study at Boston University that showed of the 111 NFL players whose brains were studied, 110 displayed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). You might love football. I love football. But what do you do if your kid loves it too?

Football's nasty catch-22

Most of us are aware by now that playing football causes brain damage. Some experience mild symptoms of forgetfulness from time to time, but it’s much worse and far more terrifying and dangerous for others.

Researchers are still in their infancy when it comes to understanding the brain, but it is known that consistent trauma to the head, exactly the type of trauma seen in every football game, causes damage.

So what do you do when your child says he or she wants to play football?

Judging by the crowds over at City Wide Sports Park last weekend, you sign them up and cheer them on.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no finger wagging going on here. I played high school football back in the days when concussion protocol was the coach asking if you knew where you were and what the score was. Answer correctly and back in you went.

(As an aside, I have an eerie story about going to see The Exorcist hours after being concussed that would make your skin crawl).

Today, the helmets are much more protective, players are taught not to lead with their head, and everyone from coaches to doctors are better trained. Sports, including football, teach teamwork, resiliency, the importance of physical fitness, and it keeps kids off the street by giving them something they enjoy doing. If I didn’t have sports when I was a teen, living under the same roof as an alcoholic and violent stepfather, I might not have survived it all.

Still, when do the risks of football outweigh the rewards?

Playing a couple of seasons around the age of 10 or so can’t hurt, right? But what if they love the game? What if they want to play into high school, and then college, and maybe even professionally? By this time, it’s almost certain the brain has been permanently injured to one extent or another.

As the Chicago Tribune writer Steve Chapman put it: “There are good reasons Russian roulette has never become a mass spectator sport. Not many fans want to see people competing to see who can cheat death and who will inflict lethal harm on his brain.”

He cites a study at Boston University that showed of the 111 NFL players whose brains were studied, 110 displayed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). You might love football. I love football. But what do you do if your kid loves it too?

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Football's nasty catch-22

Most of us are aware by now that playing football causes brain damage. Some experience mild symptoms of forgetfulness from time to time, but it’s much worse and far more terrifying and dangerous for others.

Researchers are still in their infancy when it comes to understanding the brain, but it is known that consistent trauma to the head, exactly the type of trauma seen in every football game, causes damage.

So what do you do when your child says he or she wants to play football?

Judging by the crowds over at City Wide Sports Park last weekend, you sign them up and cheer them on.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no finger wagging going on here. I played high school football back in the days when concussion protocol was the coach asking if you knew where you were and what the score was. Answer correctly and back in you went.

(As an aside, I have an eerie story about going to see The Exorcist hours after being concussed that would make your skin crawl).

Today, the helmets are much more protective, players are taught not to lead with their head, and everyone from coaches to doctors are better trained. Sports, including football, teach teamwork, resiliency, the importance of physical fitness, and it keeps kids off the street by giving them something they enjoy doing. If I didn’t have sports when I was a teen, living under the same roof as an alcoholic and violent stepfather, I might not have survived it all.

Still, when do the risks of football outweigh the rewards?

Playing a couple of seasons around the age of 10 or so can’t hurt, right? But what if they love the game? What if they want to play into high school, and then college, and maybe even professionally? By this time, it’s almost certain the brain has been permanently injured to one extent or another.

As the Chicago Tribune writer Steve Chapman put it: “There are good reasons Russian roulette has never become a mass spectator sport. Not many fans want to see people competing to see who can cheat death and who will inflict lethal harm on his brain.”

He cites a study at Boston University that showed of the 111 NFL players whose brains were studied, 110 displayed evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). You might love football. I love football. But what do you do if your kid loves it too?